Show Us Your Motors!

Associate
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Chipping Norton
Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2006
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Surrey
Not been on here in a while but I thought I'd post the old and new steeds:

Old:
Z4 3.0i
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New:
C300 Coupe

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New one is the company car, still unsure if I'm keeping the Z4 - financially it makes no sense, however I took it out today and it was a blast!
 
Soldato
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They're also a bloody bargain - mines on 148k or so and worth about £2.5k probably. You can get good examples under 100k miles for £4k or so which for what you get is amazing. I've decided that I'm likely going to keep the Z4 as it's only £280 a year to insure on a classic policy and really quite cheap to run.
 
Soldato
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My Z4 is still about, though i've given it to my father who now enjoys dailying it, When I do pinch the keys to it it's always a joy to drive, Still looks great and modern, the bellow of the M54B30 engine as you get past 4.5k rpm it's just amazing.

I honestly couldn't think of a better roadster for the price you pay for a decent low mileage 03-05 car which is usually around the £4k mark.
 
Soldato
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Surrey
Not really, they don't tend to suffer from rust thankfully.
There isn't much that goes wrong really with them, it's only things like the VANOS that needs doing really and rear springs like to snap!
Mine has just had a new starter motor in 40k+ miles really, other than that it's been consumables. I have refreshed the suspension with new springs and shocks but that was only probably £400 or so.

They're amazing little cars I have to say, plus mine's had the exhaust modded so it sounds incredible (imo!). Get onto the Z4 Forum, it's a great resource!
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Jul 2007
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16,316
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South East
So nothing really that wouldn't be a relatively simple driveway fix, then. That's good.

What's the deal with the roof motor? Is there a preventative fix?

Looks like 5k or so will get a 3.0 that isn't bottom of the barrel. Something to think about in the next year or so.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
8,151
Location
Surrey
The roof motor sits in a compartment with insufficient draining so it gets waterlogged and dies. There are a few preventative fixes, the most common of which is moving it into the boot.
There are people on the Z4 forum that'll move it for you for under £100 and that solves any problem.

£5k is a good budget for a pre-facelift, you might struggle to get a decent facelift with that, though that of course will change in a year or so I'm sure. The facelift imo doesn't look as good but has a more powerful engine (260ish hp vs 230hp in the 3.0i cars) and slightly updated suspension and lights.
 
Soldato
Joined
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West sussex
So nothing really that wouldn't be a relatively simple driveway fix, then. That's good.

What's the deal with the roof motor? Is there a preventative fix?

Looks like 5k or so will get a 3.0 that isn't bottom of the barrel. Something to think about in the next year or so.

easy fix, plenty of members of z4 forums around uk can relocate it to the boot and 9/10 fix the "dead" motor, once fixed and in the boot it wont suffer with same issue. It's bad design by bmw.

my main gripes with my z4 coupe were -;

average interior quality
rattles/creaks were a thing but not too bad
sport suspension is quite hard but I didnt mind it, depends on your use I guess.

issues on z4 e85/6

waterpumps go
leaking valve covers
broken springs
rust on boot lid(coupe only)
sticky steering issue
vanos
suspension bushes go often(cheap to fix)

that's about it, they're pretty good cars.. think of it as a 2seater e46 330.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Aug 2012
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4,537
Location
S.E Wales
As mentioned, check Z4 Forum, Members can relocate and repair a "broken" roof motor
DISA Valve rebuild kit is a must if it hasn't already been done, if not done potential bit of metal from the valve and enter the engine and kaboom bye engine
Vanos rebuild is worth getting done with proper O Ring, the one BMW uses was never up to the job
Rocker cover gasket prone to leaking very common and cheap.

I must admit the E85 is probably BMWs worst interiors in terms of build quality, like with mine and a quick google will show many others have terrible interior rattles, fix really is to take things apart where you think they're rattling and put some sound deadening material in.

The above mentioned stuff are cheap fixes, just annoyances mostly
 
OcUK Staff
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17 Oct 2002
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OcUK HQ
Not washed for nearly a month due to weekends away, but went to Eynsham Hall for a long weekend with Mrs and to celebrates Mac's 23rd wedding anniversary, place was beautiful, went and parked in front of building for some sneaky photos, more in my actual thread. :)

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